1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns apparatus for cooling drinking water and dispensing a large volume of said cooled water to a number of individuals simultaneously.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the course of athletic competition, particularly outdoors on hot days, players need to drink a cooled beverage to avoid dehydration and help cool the body. In certain sports such as soccer, football and lacrosse, the number of participants is large. Therefore, the volume of beverage needed at the sites where these events occur is also large. The most universally accepted cold beverage is water, and the dispenser should be sufficiently portable to be taken out to the field to service the players.
Numerous portable devices have been disclosed for cooling beverages. Such devices generally employ a thermally insulated container which holds ice. In the simplest of such devices cooler chests are employed wherein bottles or cans of beverages are stored in contact with ice cubes and are removed as needed by way of a closure lid. In other devices, a coiled tube is disposed within a compartment filled with ice, preferably in cube or crushed form, and water is run through the tube toward a dispensing extremity. Such construction is shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,356 to DeLau wherein water is caused to flow by gravity from a top reservoir through a cooling coil to a lower spigot. The DeLau cooler unit is limited in its capacity by the size of the reservoir. If the reservoir is made larger, the considerable weight of the water compromises the portability of the unit. Also, the low position of the spigot necessitates the use of a table, upon which the cooler would be placed, and cups to receive the cooled water. Other portable cooling devices equipped with coils through which the beverage travels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,871,675; 4,856,678; 5,350,086; 5,743,107; 5,803,163.
However, such devices in general have limited beverage capacity and lack sufficient portability to be carried or wheeled outdoors to a playing field. Also, the dispensers usually service just one player at a time, and necessitate the inconvenience of having to use drinking cups.
In order to permit multiple dispensing ports while obviating the need for drinking cups, portable water coolers have been disclosed having flexible drinking spouts disposed above the cooling chamber. However, such units require pumped pressurization to drive the water to heights above the cooling chamber. Such pressuization, when achieved by a hand-operated pump causes the dispenser to be difficult to use. When a battery-operated pump is employed, the dispenser becomes expensive and problematic. The battery must be frequently re-charged, and both the battery and pumping mechanism are subject to failure. Furthermore, the pressurization mechanism, often associated with an upper lid of the cooling compartment, causes difficulties in adding fresh ice to the cooling compartment. In general, most prior water coolers intended for semi-portable outdoor use have a limited capacity, requiring manual addition of drinking water.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a water cooler having an unlimited water supply while still being sufficiently portable to permit movement onto a playing field.
It is another object of this invention to provide a water cooler as in the foregoing object which can service several drinkers at the same time.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a water cooler of the aforesaid nature which dispenses cooled water without the need for a drinking cup to receive and drink the dispensed water.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a water cooler of the aforesaid nature which permits easy ice replacement.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a water cooler of the aforesaid nature which enables the ice to efficiently cool the water.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a water cooler of the aforesaid nature of lightweight, durable construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.